Brittney Griner returned to Texas and played basketball in her home state for the first time since being released from a Russian prison.
Griner was in the starting lineup as the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury visited the Dallas Wings in Arlington on Wednesday night.
Fans brought signs in support of Griner and greeted the Houston native and former Baylor star with loud cheers as she was introduced as part of Phoenix’s starting lineup before the game. Her family members, former AAU and high school teams, and the Baylor women’s basketball program were also in attendance.
“I was really, really, really, really, really happy to see the Baylor team,” Griner told the media after the game. “That meant a lot having them here… It was just a lot of support. It was good seeing everybody and just being back in Texas. It was really cool.”
The league has shown its support for Griner, which continued Wednesday as she competed in her fifth game since returning to the United States.
“Within the lines, of course, we’re at each other’s necks, but that doesn’t mean that the love and support isn’t there outside the lines,” Griner said. “It means everything to me to have some players and basically the whole league reaching out to me in different forms to let me know I have their support.”
Griner has been Phoenix’s leading scorer this season and led the Mercury again with 24 points on Wednesday night. However, the Wings pulled out a fourth-quarter comeback and earned an 84-79 win to improve to 4-3 on the season.
Throughout the game, there was a significant concentration on increasing awareness of wrongfully detained Americans across the globe, including highlighting certain detainees on the jumbotron.
“Before all this happened, I knew we had Americans in places that were detained, but I didn’t know how severe that was until I lived it,” Griner explained after the game.
“I’m in a position where I have access to media like this,” she continued. “I’m on social media and everything, bringing awareness. A lot of families don’t get the opportunity to be in front of the cameras [and] to be in front of everyone in this room, so any chance we get…we have to apply the pressure where we can to make the tough decisions to get these families reunited.”
The Mercury and the Wings will play again in Arlington at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday.
